The FBI is now investigating threats against the Kentucky State Parole Board following the release of a convicted child killer.
Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed the federal agency's involvement during his weekly Team Kentucky briefing on Thursday.
"If you are calling and leaving one of these racist, violent messages for our parole board members, there's no acceptable reason to ever threaten another human being with violence, and these people do a hard job on the parole board," stated Beshear.
Ronald Exantus was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2018 after being found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity in the fatal stabbing of six-year-old Logan Tipton during a home invasion in Versailles. Instead, a jury convicted him on two counts of second-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree assault for attacking Logan's father and sisters.
The Kentucky Supreme Court upheld his conviction in 2020, while the State Parole Board denied him release in 2021 and deferred it for two years in 2023.
"Every time the board had an opportunity, it recommended that Exantus stay in prison," Beshear said.
Most recently, the parole board voted unanimously against his release on September 30.
"Despite repeatedly voting for Ronald Exantus to remain in prison, Parole Board members have faced significant threats over the last several days, even having their personal addresses released publicly," said Ladeidra N. Jones, chair of the Kentucky Parole Board. "We are encouraging individuals to take these threats seriously and to prioritize factual information, which is that the board did not release Exantus – instead, a law passed by the General Assembly did."
Kentucky State Police Sgt. Matt Sudduth said on Thursday that threatening harm is a criminal offense.
"Threats in today's environment sometimes become a reality, so we take every threat, anything we need to look into, very seriously," Sudduth said. "We're not going to tolerate it. We understand people have First Amendment rights and we're going to support those rights, but making threats of violence is not a protected form of speech or expression."
Despite the parole board's decision to have Exantus serve the remainder of his sentence, Kentucky law required the Department of Corrections to release the inmate on Mandatory Reentry Supervision. Inmates who aren't eligible for parole in the last six months of their sentence may qualify for mandatory reentry supervision, which allows them to be released from prison and have their sentence expire in six months as long as they meet several conditions during the supervised release period.
According to the governor's office, Exantus requested and was accepted by the state of Florida to serve his Mandatory Reentry Supervision there under the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. According to the Kentucky Online Offender Lookup, Exantus was released Oct. 1 and will serve out his supervised release in Florida through June 18, 2026.
At least two efforts are now underway to eliminate or revise Kentucky's law on Mandatory Reentry Supervision during the 2026 General Assembly.
State Rep. TJ Roberts (R-Burlington) says he plans to file a bill to prevent split verdicts where criminal defendants are found guilty of lesser charges based on an insanity defense.
"Exantus should have been convicted of the murder charge, and the insanity plea should not have been a get out of jail free card," said Roberts in a news release from the House Majority Caucus.
State Rep. Jason Nemes (R-Louisville) says he'll sponsor 'Logan's Law,' which would require people found insane by a court to go to a mental hospital once out of prison.
Meanwhile, the White House says it's looking into the release of Exantus.
"It's wholly unacceptable for a child killer to walk free after just several years in prison," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a social media post.
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